We can cry because
we're happy. We can cry because we're sad. We can cry because we're cutting
onions. They're all completely
different emotions, but are they different tears? Photographer Rose-Lynn
Fisher wanted to find out in her series The Topography of Tears. She put dried
tears from all different kinds of situations under the microscope to see what's
different between them all. So there are three
different types of tears. Psychic tears (happiness, sadness) are caused by
extreme emotions. Basal tears are made to keep the cornea lubricated. Reflex
tears (onions, tear gas) come out in response to something else.
Fisher found that those three different types of tears contain different
molecules. That makes sense! They're three different things! But how do tears
of joy and tears of sorrow, which come from the same place, end up looking
different? Because of circumstance. Even though they're the same, how you cry
and so forth can affect how it looks up close.
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| Tears from Sad |
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| Tears from Happiness |
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| Tears from Onions |
